Illustrated History of Furniture eBook

therefore, improved and became more varied; the old
custom of reclining at meals ceased, and guests sat
on benches; and though we have, with certain exceptions,
such as the chair of St. Peter at Rome, and that of
Maximian in the Cathedral at Ravenna, no specimens
of furniture of this time, we have in the old Byzantine
ivory bas-reliefs such representations of circular
throne chairs and of ecclesiastical furniture as suffice
to show the class of woodwork then in vogue.

The chair of St. Peter is one of the most interesting
relics of the Middle Ages. The woodcut will shew
the design, which is, like other work of the period,
Byzantine, and the following description is taken from
Mr. Hungerford Pollen’s introduction to the
South Kensington catalogue:—­“The
chair is constructed of wood, overlaid with carved
ivory work and gold. The back is bound together
with iron. It is a square with solid front and
arms. The width in front is 39 inches; the height
in front 30 inches, shewing that a scabellum or footstool
must have belonged to it.... In the front are
18 groups or compositions from the Gospels, carved
in ivory with exquisite fineness, and worked with
inlay of the purest gold. On the outer sides
are several little figures carved in ivory. It
formed, according to tradition, part of the furniture
of the house of the Senator Pudens, an early convert
to the Christian faith. It is he who gave to the
Church his house in Rome, of which much that remains
is covered by the Church of St. Pudenziana. Pudens
gave this chair to St. Peter, and it became the throne
of the See. It was kept in the old Basilica of
St. Peter’s.” Since then it has been
transferred from place to place, until now it remains
in the present Church of St. Peter’s, but is
completely hidden from view by the seat or covering
made in 1667, by Bernini, out of bronze taken from
the Pantheon.

Much has been written about this famous chair.
Cardinal Wiseman and the Cavaliere de Rossi have defended
its reputation and its history, and Mr. Nesbitt, some
years ago, read a paper on the subject before the Society
of Antiquaries.

[Illustration: Chair of St. Peter, Rome.]

Formerly there was in Venice another chair of St.
Peter, of which there is a sketch from a photograph
in Mrs. Oliphant’s “Makers of Venice.”
It is said to have been a present from the Emperor
Michel, son of Theophilus (824-864), to the Venetian
Republic in recognition of services rendered, by either
the Doge Gradonico, who died in 1864, or his predecessor,
against the Mahommedan incursions. Fragments only
now remain, and these are preserved in the Church
of St. Pietro, at Castello.

There is also a chair of historic fame preserved in
Venice, and now kept in the treasury of St. Mark’s.
Originally in Alexandria, it was sent to Constantinople
and formed part of the spoils taken by the Venetians
in 1204. Like both the other chairs, this was
also ornamented with ivory plaques, but these have
been replaced by ornamental marble.